Buhari, Atiku, others to sign MoU on campaigns, hate speeches—Abubakar

ABUJA—AHEAD of 2019 general election, all the presidential candidates are to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, not only to undertake violence-free campaigns, but also to avoid hate speeches and unguarded utterances during their campaign activities.

Former Head of State and Chairman of National Peace Committee, Abdulsalami Abubakar, who disclosed this after a meeting with a delegation from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, led by its Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, also said chairmen of all the registered political parties would do same.

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Abubakar, who said the meeting was aimed at receiving briefing from the electoral umpire on its preparedness in the conduct of the 2019 polls, expressed worry over the security situation in the country, especially the heightened security problems in the North-East.

He said: “The Chairman of INEC has briefed us on the preparation for the elections, his challenges and what he is going to do to make sure that there is successful free and fair elections.

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“We will do our best to help sanitise the political arena. You, members of the press, have a duty to educate our people and politicians so that when they go on campaigning, they campaign on issues and that there should be politics without bitterness.”